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Neoplatonism

Philosophy
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

Neoplatonism is a mystical philosophy where all reality emanates from the One through layers of being. It seeks return to divine unity through contemplation.

Detailed Definition
Poetry engages Neoplatonism through light imagery, ascent motifs, and love as divine conduit. Philosophically, it frames beauty as path to transcendence—where sensory experience becomes ladder to the ineffable, and verse mirrors the soul’s journey from multiplicity to unity.
Example
Example in poetry:
William Blake’s “The Tyger” reflects Neoplatonic emanation from divine fire; Shelley’s “Adonais” portrays Keats’s soul ascending to One; W.B. Yeats’s “Sailing to Byzantium” seeks escape from cycle into eternal art; Rainer Maria Rilke’s Duino Elegies treat angels as pure emanations; H.D.’s Trilogy uses Greek myth as path to divine unity; John Milton’s Paradise Lost, despite Christian frame, uses Neoplatonic hierarchies of being.
Additional Notes
Neoplatonism sees reality emanating from the One. In poetry, it appears as light imagery, ascent: Yeats’s Byzantium, Shelley’s “Adonais.” Students should note how beauty leads to transcendence. Related to Platonism, emanationism, and mysticism. Professors can contrast it with immanent poetics.
Also Known As
Neo-Platonism Plotinian philosophy
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